Insulation displacement connectors are well known for connecting electrical cables to all types of components. These connectors provide for ready connection of the cable to the connector, and thus electrical connection to the component, without stripping the cable insulation, soldering the cable or the like.
A typical insulation displacement connector includes an arrangement by which the insulation of the cable is severed or cut to provide direct contact between contacts of the connector and the conductor carried in the cable. The insulation is cut or severed so as to minimize any cutting of the cable.
Typically, a connector includes a plastic or like polymeric body or housing that carries one or more electrical contacts. The plastic body material is an insulating material. In one conventional connector arrangement, each contact includes an elongated slot having substantially flat, opposing side walls. At an upper end of the slot, the walls are tapered inwardly from the entrance of the slot so that as the cable is urged into the slot it traverses through a narrowing or converging portion of the slot upper end. In some known contacts, the inwardly directed edges at the entrance can be coined, that is they can be provided with edges, to facilitate cutting the insulator. The remainder of the slot walls (i.e., below the entrance) are generally configured with flat surfaces (that is non-coined surfaces) to prevent otherwise cutting the conductor. Other known contacts include a flat surface at the angled or tapered entrance region.
One drawback common to all of the known connectors is that as the cable insulation thickness increases, the force required to properly install or insert the cable increases. That is, the thicker the insulation, the greater the force required to insert the cable to the required depth in the contact. This is particularly true with higher voltage cables, such as 600 volt rated cables, which typically include a thicker insulation as required by code.
This added force has two drawbacks. First, the connector body, which is typically plastic, must support the contact load during cable insertion. Excessive insertion forces can damage the connector body or the contact itself, thus rendering the connector useless. Second, the excessive force required to cut the thicker insulation can in turn urge the contact beams apart prematurely, thus minimizing the required electrical contact between the contact and the conductor. That is, the contact slot, which accepts the wire, is spread wider than necessary by the cable cutting force so that the contact minimally engages the conductor. This can result in less than desired, or possibly no contact between the connector contact and the conductor, again, rendering the connector useless.
Accordingly, there is a need for an insulation displacement connector that includes contacts that provide electrical connection between the contacts and an associated electrical cable. Desirably, such a contact is configured to reduce the force necessary to urge the electrical cable into the contact. Most desirably, such connector contacts are configured such that they do not compromise the integrity of the electrical conductor carried within the cable. In such a contact, a counterbalancing force is exerted on the contact as the cable is urged therein so that the force exerted during insertion does not over stress the conducting portions of the contact and the connector carrying the contact.
A reversed bevel cutting edge insulation displacement connector is adapted to receive an associated cable having a conductor and a covering, i.e., insulation, over the conductor. The connector includes at least one and preferably multiple contacts, each of which is configured to secure the cable therein, slit or cut the cable insulation and provide electrical contact between the conductor and the contact.
A present insulation displacement connector provides electrical connection between the contact and an associated electrical cable, and is configured to reduce the force necessary to urge the electrical cable into the contact. Cutting edges are provided that do not compromise the integrity of the electrical conductor carried within the cable. Moreover, in the present reversed bevel connector contact, a counterbalancing force is exerted on the contact as the cable is urged therein, so as to reduce the opportunity to over stress the cutting portions of the contact and the connector housing the contact.
The contact includes at least one wall, and preferably a pair of walls opposing one another. The walls can be connected to each other by an intermediate connecting section. Each wall has a slot formed therein that defines bifurcated wall sections or beams. Each slot further defines an entrance between the bifurcated wall sections. The slots of each wall align with one another.
Each wall section has an outwardly inclined surface that defines a reversed bevel that is contiguous with an inwardly inclined surface extending into the slot. The outwardly inclined surfaces each having a cutting edge formed on the reversed bevel. A juncture of the inwardly inclined surface and its contiguous outwardly inclined surface defines an apex.
The slot can be formed from the entrance having an elongated contacting region and an end region. Preferably, the contacting region can be defined by opposing slot walls that taper away from one another and the end region can be defined by opposing slot walls that taper toward one another. The contacting region and end region are contiguous with one another. In addition, the outward taper of the slot walls reduces the xe2x80x9cspreadxe2x80x9d of the beams from one another when the cable is inserted into the contact. In this manner, the cable is secured in the connector slot when installed.
For additional rigidity, the connector can be formed such that the walls have outer edges that taper outwardly from a juncture of the outwardly inclined surfaces at the cutting edges and the outer edges. The outward taper provides a space or buffer between the beams and the connector housing to reduce the opportunity for contact between the contact an the connector housing and possible damage to either or both.
In a most preferred configuration, a distance between the apexes is greater than a greatest width of the slot. In the most preferred configuration, all of the surfaces other than the cutting edges are substantially flat surfaces. Because of the reversed bevel of the cutting edges, the insulation is cut away from the conductor, rather than toward the conductor
Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description, the accompanying drawings, and the appended claims.